As a science geek, I couldn’t help but be delighted by this bit of tomfoolery (via Reddit). In a nutshell, the idea is to place a hot dog on the floor of your microwave (so it doesn’t rotate), then cook the hot dog until it starts to bubble. Use a ruler to measure the length of the burn marks, throw some math at it, and voilà, you have an approximation for the speed of light.

To get a better understanding of why this works, take a look at the video below (HT to Peter Hosey).

Because Science!

worried

How can you get a standing wave when the hotdog sits on the bottom? Is this an interference pattern from multiple reflections,with unknown angles, so the agreement is totally accidental?

David

where the hot dog sits has nothing to do with how the standing wave is generated